06/09/2026
There was a time when simply seeing someone who looked like you on British television could mean far more than people sitting at home might ever have realised.
For a generation of children growing up in Britain during the 1970s and 80s, Floella Benjamin and Derek Griffiths became familiar faces through Play School and Play Away. They sang songs, told stories, made children laugh and encouraged them to use their imaginations.
But their presence on television also helped to quietly break down barriers.
Derek Griffiths was already appearing on Play School when Floella Benjamin joined in 1976. Floella had worked alongside Derek in the stage production The Black Mikado and later recalled seeing how much he enjoyed working on Play School and thinking she wanted to be part of it too.
Derek himself had come to the programme after being spotted in pantomime. He later admitted he had never even watched Play School before being encouraged to audition. His personality and humour impressed the production team and he went on to become one of the programme’s best-remembered presenters, as well as appearing on Play Away.
For Black British children watching at the time, seeing people such as Derek and Floella on television was important.
They were not appearing only in stories about race. They were not there simply to explain what it meant to be Black. They were presenters, entertainers, actors and musicians speaking directly to millions of children.
Floella understood the importance of that because she had experienced a very different side of Britain.
Born in Trinidad, she came to Britain in 1960 at the age of 10 and has spoken openly about the racism and bullying she experienced after arriving.
Even after finding success, she was never prepared to ignore what was missing.
While working on Play School, Floella noticed that illustrations shown to children featured white faces but did not properly reflect the diversity of the children actually watching.
She raised it with the production team.
“I could have been sitting pretty, getting a good wage, everyone telling me they love me, why rock the boat?” she later recalled. “But it’s my job to make people notice what’s missing.”
That idea became a big part of her life.
Floella has also spoken about questioning why Black actors were so often offered stereotypical parts rather than being allowed to play ordinary professional roles.
Speaking out was not always welcomed. She later revealed that she was warned: “shut up or you’ll never work again”.
She didn’t.
Instead, she went on to spend decades campaigning for children, education, diversity and better representation. In 2010 she became Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham and continued that work in the House of Lords.
Derek Griffiths, meanwhile, built a career that went far beyond children’s television, with extensive work in theatre and television, including Shakespeare, musical theatre and drama.
And that is why the story of Derek Griffiths and Floella Benjamin still matters.
They were not the first Black people to appear on British children’s television, and Floella herself has acknowledged presenters such as Carmen Munroe and Johnny Silvo who came before her.
But Derek and Floella became two hugely recognisable Black faces in British children’s television at a time when the screen was far less diverse than it is today.
Sometimes change does not arrive with a big announcement.
Sometimes it happens in a living room.
A child switches on the television and sees Derek Griffiths singing a song.
Another sees Floella Benjamin smiling through the screen.
For some Black children, there was the simple but powerful feeling of seeing someone who looked like them and knowing they belonged there.
For other children, seeing Black presenters simply became normal.
Years later, actress Sharon D Clarke said Floella was the only entertainment role model she remembered from her childhood in 1970s London. Justin Fletcher has also spoken about growing up watching Play School with Derek, Floella and Johnny Ball before eventually building his own career in children’s television.
Floella still hears what that representation meant from the adults who once watched her as children.
“Even today, people say to me, I am who I am because of you,” she has said.
That probably says more than anything else.
Derek Griffiths and Floella Benjamin entertained millions of children, but their presence also helped show that Black people could stand in front of a British television camera, be themselves and simply belong there.
